Blog Post

Point and shoots have optical zoom, but you still need to WiFi your pictures to your phone and then share them online. Meaning, you need a camera AND a phone.

Now you can have both in the Php26995 ASUS ZenFone Zoom. It has 3x Optical Zoom (no more zooming in with your feet), Optical Image Stabilization (better low light shots and less blur), .03 second Laser Auto Focus (fast image capture), physical shutter and video record buttons, 64-bit Intel Atom processor plus 4GB RAM (for stutter-free performance and awesome gaming), 128GB storage (no need for a microSD card), and fast charging (60% in 39 minutes) in a slim metal-framed body that’s so nice to hold.

The ASUS ZenFone Zoom was launched during the Sinulog Festival in Cebu last January 16, 2016. Here are its key features.

ZenFone Looks, Metallic Finish, Great Tactile Feel

The ASUS ZenFone Zoom carries the iconic ZenFone look: rounded corners, sizeable forehead and chin, non-backlit capacitive keys. But gone are the rear keys found in the ZenFone 2 and ZenFone Laser. The power, volume rocker, and physical shutter and video buttons all on the right side. The phone’s sides curve into your hand and the rear cover, both the Pure Black faux leather and Ceramic White variant, make a for a phone that’s never too large and feels nice to hold.

3x Optical Zoom, Stable Shots, Fast Image Capture

The ZenFone Zoom is currently the thinnest phone with 3x Optical Zoom (12x Total Zoom). The lens barrel never protrudes from the back of the camera. The 3X HOYA lens follow a 10-element lens arrangement for clear images up close and fromt afar. A built-in Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) ensures sharper, less blurry, and better in low light images. Laser Auto Focus makes for fast image capture so you don’t lose the moment. The Zoom also offers a safety loop.

The thought of having a separate point and shoot camera whose shots you’ll WiFi to your phone for social media sharing now seems silly.

Powerful Performance, Battery Stamina, Fast Charging

The ZenFone Zoom features 64-bit quad-core processor (2.5Ghz) plus 4GB RAM for smooth multitasking. Like the ZenFone 2 (the world’s first 4GB RAM smartphone), the ZenFone Zoom with run any app you throw at it. Intel’s new Silvermount architecture reduces power leakage. The Zoom also has a 3000 mAh battery capable of fast charging – 60% capacity at only 39 minutes. (FYI, ASUS also has a half powebank and half Android ZenFone.)

The ZenFone Zoom isn’t that big. Here’s the ZenFone Max (5.5-inch display) on the left and the Zoom (5.5-inch) on the right. Same ZenFone DNA, different personalities.

Vivid Display, Tough Glass, Awesome Sound

The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5-inch full HD IPS display (403 ppi) with impressive viewing angles for bright and crisp images and videos. Corning Gorilla Glass 4 make for a display that’s hard to crack. The ASUS Splendid app allows adjustment of color warmth – cold bluish to saturated and warm, and even offers Bluelight filter for more comfy reading. The ZenFone Zoom also features acoustic technology (including SonicMaster 2.0, 5 magnet speaker, AudioWizard 2.0) for your listening pleasure, immersive headphone listening, and voice calls with less noise.

Sample shot. Note that the uneven violet and yellow lighting has been toned down.

So Much Storage Space

The ZenFone Zoom has 128GB inernal storage (just like the ZenFone Deluxe), a micro SD slot (up to 128GB), and free 100GB Google Drive (for two years). And then there’s the usual option of moving files via a USB OTG flash drive. No worries about storage space, ever.

ASUS PH Country Manager George Su is flanked by models; each of them holding a ZenFone Zoom.

Irwin Allen Rivera loves his wife's cooking so much he's now twice the man he used to be. His English essay won a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in 2012. His philosophical-horror story appeared in Philippine Speculative Fiction 8 (2013). He was managing editor and lead writer of Sites and Symbols 2 (2005), a coffee-table book about buildings in UP Diliman - his alma mater (BA Philosophy; MA Creative Writing continuing). He worked at the UP Diliman Information Office before shifting to web content writing. His sudden fiction, "Notwithstanding Pigs," initially a Friendster testimonial, appeared in Philippines Graphic (2006) and in Very Short Stories for Harried Readers (2007). He used to write for www.technoodling.net.